Investors snapped up 1 in 4 Charlotte homes last year
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Investors purchased a quarter of Charlotte area homes last year — which, tied with Atlanta, is the highest rate of any city in the U.S., according to a recent Washington Post analysis.
What’s happening: In Charlotte’s white-hot real estate market, the flurry of activity from investors is only making competition more fierce.
- The share of homes sold to investors has only been growing, the Post found. In 2015, 11% of homes sold in the past year were bought by investors.
- And a greater proportion of homes in Charlotte’s majority-minority “crescent,” which is rapidly gentrifying, are being purchased by the corporations, the analysis found.
Details: That’s much higher than the overall rate in the 40 largest metropolitan areas nationally, where investors bought one in seven homes. The Post analysis defines investors as large and small corporations, as well as individuals, who typically don’t live in the homes they purchase.
Why it matters: Buyers are being priced out of Charlotte, as low inventory fuels higher prices. Prospective buyers are competing with investors, especially for moderately-priced homes, who can often afford to pay cash.
- A 2021 analysis from UNC Charlotte’s Urban Institute found Wall Street-backed landlords own more than 11,000 homes in Mecklenburg County. That’s still a relatively small portion of the single-family home market, at 4.3%.
- But their holdings are concentrated among lower-priced houses, the report found.
Go deeper: Investors are betting on rapidly changing zip codes where price pressure is pushing out longtime residents.
- In two west Charlotte zip codes, 28216 and 28214, they purchased over half of homes sold in the last year.
- In several northern zip codes, like 28269 and 28262, that figure was over 40%.
They’re also active in outlying areas, like Gastonia, where they purchased more than 40% of homes, and parts of Concord and Kannapolis, where they bought more than a third.
The other side: Many of the largest investors, like American Homes 4 Rent and Invitation Homes, rent out the houses they purchase. Those corporations say they are helping fill the growing need for rental housing.
The bottom line: Charlotte needs more homes, both rental and for sale, to keep up with the city’s expansion.